NORFOLK, Va. - A Virginia Beach man pleaded guilty today to child pornography crimes including enticing minor victims to produce child sexual abuse images online.
According to court documents, Larry Anthony Radebaugh, 40, established chat-based relationships with multiple children in which he persuaded them to send him nude images and videos of themselves. Posing as a teenage boy, Radebaugh used applications such as Kik and TextNow to befriend his victims. Radebaugh enticed the minors to strike sexual poses and perform sexual acts and then transmit the images over the internet. With one victim, he used Skype to engage in “phone sex," while his own camera was disabled. For some of his victims, this conduct lasted approximately 1 1/2 years. Radebaugh stored many of these images in an online storage service and possessed other images on his cell phone.
Radebaugh pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and possession of child pornography and faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison when sentenced on Jan. 18, 2017. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Stoker is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources" for more information about Internet safety education.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-86.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
